The Ski Lift
by Life's Light
Summary: One-shot, Mai x Joey. The gang go skiing, and one morning Joey and Mai go on the ski lift together. Yup.


Hiiiii everyone. This is a one-shot, it's a story for a contest in my guild on neopets =D Your usual sappy piece of Joey/Mai romance from moi. Enjoy.

--------------------------

Mai slid a dollar and 3 pennies across the counter to the cashier. She picked up the small coffee with a mutter of thanks, and stepped away to let the person next in line order. The blonde tore off her purple gloves and cupped her frostbitten hands around the coffee mug, letting out a little sigh of a relief as she felt warmth on her fingers. She lifted the cup to her lips and took a sip.

Mai turned away from the counter and cast an eye over the fully-occupied picnic tables, cramped under a crooked plank of wood-- the only roof. She wished she could go back to rest at the chalet, but it was too far a walk for just a little break. If she went back to that lodge, she wouldn't be coming out for the rest of the day. Mai slid her gloves back on her fingers. 'Whoever designed this ski resort is an idiot,' she thought to herself irritably.

Spotting part of the gang, Yugi and Tea, standing by one of the feeble poles that held up the roof, Mai waved and went over to them.

"Enjoying yourself?" asked Yugi cheerfully, looking tired but still enthusiastic.

"I was," replied Mai, "but now I'm freezing. I don't think this designer ski suit was made to stand the cold."

"I h-hear you there," Tea chattered, her hands jammed in the pockets of her fleece jacket.

"I told you, you should've worn more than that," Yugi told Tea, looking a bit worried. He was bundled up in a thick winter jacket, two layers of sweaters, rainproof pants, boots, gloves, a scarf and a woolly hat. Mai thought he looked hilarious, but she had to admit, he probably wasn't cold in all those clothes.

"Where are Joey and Serenity?" asked Mai, curious as to where the other two people in the group were.

"They're still out s-skiing," answered Tea.

"I think Joey said he wanted to rent a snowboard," piped up Yugi. He pulled his multi-colour scarf up over his mouth and said, his voice muffled, "I'm going back to ski now too. Wanna come?"

Tea nodded and stepped out from the cover of the flimsy roof, but Mai shook her coffee, saying, "Nah, I've still got to finish this." Yugi waved and the two set off for the slopes.

Mai, noticing that a table had recently been vacated, quickly darted over and sat down at the edge. No sooner had she done so when Joey shambled under the roof, followed by Serenity. He strode over and sat beside Mai, stowing his borrowed snowboard under his seat. Serenity put her hand on his shoulder, and said something about going to the washroom. She smiled at Mai and waved, and then she skipped off, leaving Joey and Mai alone.

"Hi Mai!" greeted Joey brightly, his loud voice carrying to the other tables. His face was flushed with excitement.

"Having fun?" asked Mai.

Joey grinned vigorously. "Of course! Snowboarding is really fun! And so is skiing! I ran into some kid's snowman. It was hilarious! I'm thinkin' of having a snowball war when Yugi and Tea get back. Wit' forts n' everything! You wanna join? The teams'll be kinda uneven, but we can go girls against guys. We'll cream you!"

"No thanks," said Mai dryly, "I'm not interested in 'getting creamed' today."

Joey grin, if possible, spread even wider. "Alright, I thought you'd chicken out. Meow! I mean-- bawk!"

Mai was about to retort with a smart remark, but she was too busy pitying Joey for not being able to distinguish a cat from a chicken. More to humour him than anything else, she said, "Oh alright, I'll come."

Joey chuckled, as if he was laughing at himself. "Well, great! I guess we'll go find Yugi, Tea and my sister now." He stood up, accidentally kicking his snowboard as he went. "Whoops," he muttered, bending over to pick it up; his hand flew back and knocked Mai's coffee over, sending a splash of the caffeinated drink splattering onto her lap.

"Ahh!" yelped Mai, standing up. Drops of coffee trickled down her jacket and onto her pants. The rest of the liquid soaked in pretty fast.

"Sorry!" apologized Joey hastily, standing up with his snowboard under his arm and becoming aware of the damage he'd done.

Mai groaned, running her fingers through her smooth, glossy hair. "It's alright," she replied, accepting a tissue from him and using it to wipe off her jacket. It didn't do much good. "I guess I'll just turn in early today," she said, refusing another tissue from him. "It's no problem." She forced a laugh. "I was cold anyways."

She stopped to pick up her skis from where they leaned against the refreshment stand counter, and marched briskly back to the lodge.

-----

"Great, I can't wear this jacket anymore," Mai said to herself, back at the room she shared with Tea in the lodge. She took off her jacket and hung it up in the closet near the door. "Good thing I brought an extra. It's a shame I didn't think to bring one that matched my ski boots."

Mai exhaled wearily and went to the bathroom to heat up the water. "A bath before dinner will do me some good," she said to herself comfortably. "I'll just relax and take it easy for the rest of the evening."

-----

The blonde was already down in the dining hall, spooning rice onto her plate, when the rest of her group trooped through the door. A gust of wind and snow cut like a knife through the warmth of the chalet as the doors swung open to let the tired skiers in. They looked exhausted but happy. Yugi had to stop and brush the snow out of his hair before he was allowed in, his soaked hat hanging from one wet mitten.

Without bothering to set down his gear, Joey quickly stepped into the buffet line, picking up a plate from the pile. Tea, Serenity and Yugi headed towards the stairs, probably to go change in their rooms. Joey had a one-track mind; if he was hungry, there was nothing else he could even think about before he ate.

The line moved fast, and soon Joey was carrying a tray piled high with pretty much everything that had been offered. Joey sat down in front of Mai, the hard-boiled egg balanced on his spaghetti wobbling dangerously. Mai wondered how he could see her through the pile of food. A bit of an exaggeration, of course, but it was a lot of food to eat in one sitting nonetheless.

"Hungry?" asked Mai, raising an eyebrow, although it was more of a statement than a question.

"Mmrf," was the only reply Joey gave, his mouth bulging with sushi. Before he had properly swallowed it, he attempted to shove in some lasagna as well. An odd combination.

"Oh gross, don't do that, Joey. It's disgusting," complained Mai, rolling her eyes. "Can't you eat like a civilized person? You're embarrassing me."

Joey took a long swig of water before replying, "Sorry, Mai." He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and grinned. "I'm just hungry."

"That much is obvious," chuckled Mai, daintily lifting a few leaves of salad to her mouth with her fork.

Yugi and Tea came and sat down at their booth, followed by Serenity. Mai and Joey moved over to let them sit down.

"The snow war was so fun!" babbled Yugi, his face still pink. He dug into a pile of mashed potatoes and gravy. Tea, beside him, nodded in agreement.

"Why didn't you come, Mai?" Serenity asked Mai, as she started on her ramen.

"Oh... I dunno, I just didn't feel like it," answered Mai, deciding not to tell them about how Joey spilled her coffee. The poor guy didn't need his sister complaining about his clumsiness, and he had already apologized. Even if he was a bit stupid and all thumbs, he was pretty sweet.

Mai blushed. No one besides Yugi seemed to notice though, and he probably thought that she was just excited about the trip or something. Mai shrugged it off and went back to her meal.

"Remember, we're leaving the day after tomorrow," Tea reminded them. "You'll want to get your packing done tomorrow."

The rest of the group assured her they would, and finished up their dinner, chatting about how their day had gone, and what their plans for the next day were.

-----

Mai sat up in bed and peered through the darkness. What had interrupted her dream of painting a chair? She glanced at the digital alarm clock on her bedside dresser. 6:30 AM? Way too early. Mai dragged her blanket back over her head and tried to go back to dreamland. But, 10 minutes later she got up and decided that she just wasn't tired anymore. Changing into her full ski suit, the blonde shouldered her skis and, quietly, so as not to wake Tea, left the lodge room.

Outside, the new fallen snow was hardly touched. The layers of white on the ground only had a few tracks of footprints, and the rest was pure and soft, fresh and clean while it lasted. Mai stepped out into it and it gave way gently, crushing under her boots. She weaved her way towards the intermediate slopes as lightly as possible, smiling as she took a deep breath of the crisp morning air.

Mai reached the slopes and strapped her skis to her boots, then checked to make sure that her poles weren't broken in any way. After confirming that everything was intact, she took off down the slope, the first run of the day. Well, maybe not... she noticed a track leading down the slope, indicating that someone had already skied that morning before her.

The girl was so engrossed in wondering who else would be out so early that she didn't notice she'd come to the end of her run. The front of her skis jabbed their points into the snow and immediately sank in. Mai was sent sprawling forwards, coming to land unceremoniously facedown in the snow.

"Ooh, wipeout!" laughed a familiar voice.

Mai propped herself up on her elbows and wiped her face with her sleeve, which was just as wet. "Hi Joey," she mumbled bitterly.

Joey stuck out his hand, which Mai took and pulled herself up. "Thanks. So you were the one made those tracks... what are you doing out so early?"

Joey grinned like the fool that he was. "I was hungry. Then after I ate I wasn't tired anymore."

"Wow," said Mai, raising an eyebrow. She disentangled her skis from the snow's grip and slid off beside Joey to the ski lift. Luckily it was already working, a bored looking college student sitting at the controls. Mai and Joey caught a chair and it drifted slowly back up the mountain.

Mai swung her feet a bit in the air, looking out onto the pretty scenery. "So," she said, "when'd you wake up?"

"6:00," yawned Joey as he stretched out his arms.

"Seriously? I didn't think you'd wake up just to eat... I mean I know you eat a lot, but you sleep a lot too."

Joey grumbled. "That's not all I do."

Mai laughed. "I was just kidding."

Continuing, Joey said absentmindedly, "I play video games, watch TV, wish I were sleeping, think about girls..."

Mai rolled her eyes. "Typical guy." There was an awkward pause.

"So are you gonna pack your stuff this afternoon?" asked Mai casually, in an attempt to start a new conversation.

"Yeah. I'm taking a nap too." Unexpectedly, Joey leaned out over the side of the chair. "Oooh! A bunny!" he gushed, almost like a 6-year old girl.

Mai grabbed him by the shirt collar and hauled him back into the chair. "You're going to tip over the edge!" she barked. "It's just a rabbit."

Joey sighed as he shifted back into his seat. "I wanted a rabbit when I was 7," he admitted. "But my parents figured I wasn't responsible enough. And we didn't have a lot of money..." he looked away into the snow-covered trees.

Mai smiled dolefully as she thought about all the toys she's surrounded herself with back when she was a kid. Material possessions piled to the ceiling. And yet... 'I wish I'd had a friend back then,' she thought to herself.

Joey's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "You're lucky, Mai," he sighed. "Being rich and all..."

Mai didn't answer. She didn't feel like leaking out the secrets that she'd kept locked inside all these years. She glanced sideways at Joey, and suddenly she noticed how much his eyes were like his little sister's. 'I wish I'd had a sibling to talk to.'

And Joey was still talking. He rubbed the silver handle of the chair and said quietly, "Sometimes I wish I could trade everything just so I could have had a happier childhood..."

Picturing her lonely bedroom, with all it's motionless stuffed animals, Mai thought to herself, 'Sometimes I wish that too...' She cleared her throat. "Joey," she murmured hoarsely.

Joey paused, his face half-turning towards her.

Mai locked her fingers in her gloves, wondering how to say what she wanted to say. "Ummm... Be happy that you had friends. It might've not been the best childhood ever, but it's in the past, and whatever you do now, you can't change it. Don't look back on it, because it wasn't your fault if you... got into a few fights. You're different now, and that's what matters. The only thing you can change now is the future."

More silence. Joey swung his feet awkwardly, his hands wrapped around the metal safety bar. When he seemed certain that Mai was finished, a small, poignant smile appeared on his lips. "Yeah," he said softly, the wind brushing aside his bangs.

Mai rested her chin on her hand, gazing down onto the slope. Some other people were going down now as well. She checked her watch. 7:00 am, and only halfway up the ski lift.

The girl felt something alight on her index finger. Startled, she looked down to see a tiny, speckled sparrow perched there, tilting it's little head and ruffling it's wing feathers.

Mai moved her other arm towards it cautiously, trying not to scare the sparrow away. The little bird was unusually bold, crawling its way further up the girl's finger. When Mai gently placed the pinky of her other hand on the little bird's head, it hardly seemed to perceive her.

"Hey," said Joey, leaning forward as he noticed the bird, "a sparrow!"

Mai blushed in surprise as Joey placed his hand lightly on her shoulder. Oblivious to her unease, he reached out with his other hand and patted the poor sparrow on the head. "Nice birdie!" he chuckled. The sparrow darted away at once, without looking back.

"Nice job," commented Mai sardonically. She glanced at his hand, still resting on her shoulder. "Umm, mind getting off?"

Joey blinked. "Wha? Oh, sorry." He let go and sank back to the other side of the chair.

"I mean, not that I mind or anything," stuttered Mai suddenly. "Well I do, but not really... it's just, you know..." Feeling her face getting red, she turned back towards the scenery, staring hard at the trees. They looked the same way that they had 3 minutes ago. 'What am I rambling about?' she thought to herself in disbelief. 'Get a grip, girl!'

If Joey had noticed that she was acting strangely, he didn't show it. Stupid as usual, he followed her gaze and asked curiously, "Whaddya keep staring at?"

"I'm just looking at the trees. Aren't they pretty?"

Joey scrutinized them. "I guess. If you've seen one tree, you've seen 'em all."

Mai rolled her eyes. "Sure, Joey."

Joey craned his neck, looking up at the top of the ski lift. "How long does this take?" he grunted.

"We're almost there," replied the girl. "Just a quarter of the way left. So... how'd the snow war go yesterday? Who won?"

"Well the teams were split into me and Serenity, and Tea and Yuge. An' of course me and Serenity won. My little sister has learned so much," said Joey proudly. Remembering something, he added, "Sorry about spilling your coffee and all, Mai. You looked prettier in your other jacket."

Mai's face turned pink. Joey stared, apparently unaware that he had said something wrong. "'You blushing?"

"No!" said Mai quickly. "Just the cold. And, well... you said that I looked pretty."

"Yeah, so?" Joey blinked ignorantly.

"Never mind," the girl muttered, watching the skiers down below them. There were a few more people going down now. Guys just didn't understand anything.

"You seem tense," commented Joey, a bit of a frown on his face. Like a pondering puppy. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

Joey grinned and leaned back, stretching his arms out over the back of the chairlift, and around Mai's shoulder as well. "Relaaaax," he said lazily, "you're probably at the highest point in Domino right now. Going up a ski lift, over the mountain, over the snow. It's like the world has stopped just for you. Nothing can go wrong."

Mai gave in and leaned back as well. She could almost feel her tension ebbing away into the ice-cold air. Maybe guys understood just a little bit.

The ski lift chair reached the top, and Joey and Mai hopped off. Joey's boots struck the snow and he fell face-first into the snow. "MRRRPPH!" he shouted, his voice muffled. Mai sighed. Then again, maybe guys didn't understand anything after-all.

-----

Ph33r the mushiness, OOC-ness (especially Mai), bad humour and general lack of an actual plot. Yay. O-o


End file.
